Frat House Rape Victim Sues Johns Hopkins

BALTIMORE (CN) - The rape of a 16-year-old girl at a fraternity party signaled more trouble for Johns Hopkins University, already under investigation U.S. Department of Education for its handling of campus sexual assaults.

Chaz Haggins and Ethan Turner - both of Reisterstown, which is about 20 miles north of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house - were neither students at the school nor members of the fraternity when they were arrested by police for the Nov. 2, 2014 rape.

The incident occurred after the girl was served enough alcohol at an SAE party to raise her blood-alcohol content to .11 percent. The girl reportedly told police that the two men forced her to perform oral sex and then one of them had intercourse with her around 4 a.m. inside a bathroom.

The girl's suit, filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court on July 17, reports that the rape occurred a year and a half after the Johns Hopkins University was accused of not telling the campus community of a "drug-facilitated gang rape" which was reported at the off-campus Pi Kappa Alpha frat house in 2013.

"Johns Hopkins University has an abiding commitment to the well-being of our entire community and remains dedicated to keeping our students and visitors safe. The allegations in this case are deeply upsetting, and the victim is foremost in all of our thoughts," Dennis O'Shea, the executive director of communications and the university's crisis management director, said in an email.

"Following the incident, Johns Hopkins suspended the SAE chapter, based on reports of underage drinking and other serious violations of university policy at the SAE party," O'Shea wrote.

Request for comment by Sigma Alpha Epsilon were not immediately returned.

Johns Hopkins is one of 76 schools under investigation for not properly handling rape allegations. Officials at the school have come under fire for not informing the school community about cases of sexual violence.

"My concern is the criticism we will take for not acting (and for not already having acted) if we acknowledge that there are allegations out there," O'Shea said in email threads were later published on Jezebel.com.

The suit claims negligence on both the part of the school and the fraternity for not providing security, not enforcing the school's risk-management policies and procedures, and not managing the event to comply with Maryland state law.

The suit also charges Haggins and Turner with battery and the infliction of emotional distress that caused both physical and psychological trauma including "post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and depression to the victim."

The victim, who is represented by John Amato IV from Goodman, Meagher & Enoch, is seeking $20 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.

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